For Le Genou d'Artemide Jean-Marie Straub once again chose a dialogue by Cesare Pavese. And not just any dialogue, but one that tears open a painful, mystical abyss between love and the one left behind. The film is one single exhilaration and one single rush, a spell and dispersion into nature. It rises from a dark screen and chant to disappear in the woods with the whisper of the wind. It has little to do with what is generally called «cinema». It has one foot in the world beyond.
Nature has ten million times the imagination of the most imaginative of artists. (Jean-Marie Straub)
故事发生在第一次世界大战刚刚结束后,满目疮痍的大地正在缓慢的恢复之中。穆斯林学生阿里(亚当·巴克里 Adam Bakri 饰)有着尊贵的出身,家族里洋溢着浓厚的宗教气氛。一次偶然中,他邂逅了名为尼诺(玛利亚·瓦沃德 María Valverde 饰)的女孩,尼诺是信仰东正教的基督徒,虽然两人的宗教信仰截然不同,但之间还是碰撞出的爱情的火花。